Studio: international art (38.1906)

Studio- Ta Ik

artist’s work. Only a few years ago Mr. Neave
moved to London from Glasgow; he already ranks
with the most promising of the younger generation
of the Glasgow School residing in London.

The interest which is at present being taken in
tempera work, has led many of our more prominent
designers to give undivided attention to its possi-
bilities. One of the better-known workers in
tempera is Mr. J. D. Batten, who has been steadily
exploring the possibilities of the art. Some of the
earliest work which Mr. Batten did in this medium
was at Lichfield, and in connection with this it is
interesting to publish , two water-colours by Miss
Camm of Birmingham done from these frescoes.

The

originals form part of the decoration of the

chancel of Christ Church, Lichfield. They com-
pletely cover the arched roof of the chancel, and
measure 15 feet from the starting point of the arch
to the highest point of the roof. Ihe tempera
employed in this case was not yolk of egg, but a
size made from casein, in other words a cheese-
giue. The use of this medium was well known in
f ar^ bmes, the making of it is described by
beophilns and by Cennino Cellini. X he grapes
are gold outlined with vermilion; deep reds, greens
ar>d blues are used in the draperies. On the north

side are figures from Old Testament history, from
Adam to Moses, represented as looking forward to
the Advent, with the Archangel Michael. On the
south side, representations from the Old Testament
are continued, from Joshua to Isaiah, and the New
rfestament follows on with John the Baptist, the
Virgin Mary, who, with the Archangel Gabriel as
angel of the Annunciation, are also represented as
looking forward to the Advent. The artist left
among the books of the church a record of the
method of painting and all the materials employed.
We commend this practice to decorators; besides
affording a record of the permanence of the pigments
employed, it is of value if the work has to be
repaired.

The exhibition of works by Flemish and modern
Belgian painters at the Guildhall gives the history of
Flemish art. The same love of still-life and detail
animates the Flemish school from the first period,
with its highly elaborated religious pieces, to the
last, with Alfred Stevens and his delicate insistence
on the beauty incidental to the “ everyday ” in life.
The second period of Flemish art, or the great
period including Rubens and Van Dyck, is not so
fully represented, but one cannot say that it is
inadequately so. There is a remarkable Franz